Tama, the Japanese Dog

c. 1875

Edouard Manet

Painter, French, 1832 - 1883

A small, shaggy, black and white dog stands in a wood paneled room with its body angled to our right but turning its head, pink tongue out, to our left in this vertical painting. The animal is painted with loose brushstrokes that evoke the dog’s long, feathery fur. The dog peers to our left with golden brown eyes. It is black along its flanks and ears, with a stripe of white down the center of the head, and on the muzzle. The chest, belly, and legs are also white, and the bushy tail, which curls up and out like a fountain, is a mixture of black and white. Leaning on the paneling behind the dog to our right is a light wood walking stick. An object, presumably a stuffed toy in the shape of a person wearing a long black robe lined in crimson, lies on the brownish sage-green floor in front of the dog. The dog’s name, “TAMA,” appears in tan block letters at the upper left. The artist signed the work in the lower right corner, "Manet."

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    oil on canvas

  • Credit Line

    Collection of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon

  • Dimensions

    overall: 61 x 50 cm (24 x 19 11/16 in.)
    framed: 87 x 75.9 x 8.9 cm (34 1/4 x 29 7/8 x 3 1/2 in.)

  • Accession

    1995.47.12

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Théodore Duret [1838-1927], Paris, still in 1903. [1] (Raphael Gérard, Paris), by 1932.[2] (Georges Bernheim, Paris, by 1934).[3] Mr. and Mrs. H.J.P. Bomford, London, from at least 1942 until at least 1948.[4] (Marlborough Fine Arts, London), in 1953.[5] Jean d'Alayer, of the Durand-Ruel family, Paris, by 1957.[6] (Sam Salz, New York); sold May 1959 to Mr. Paul Mellon, Upperville, VA; gift 1995 to NGA.
[1]Not included in the 19 March 1894 sale of Duret's collection held in Paris. Lent by Duret to the 1903 exhibition at Bernheim-Jeune, Paris.
[2] Published as Gérard collection in Jamot-Wildenstein's 1932 Manet catalogue.
[3] Lent by Bernheim to the 1934 Venice biennale.
[4] Lent by Bomford to a 1942 exhibition in London; a partial label on the back of the stretcher gives the Bomford name. Exhibited in 1944 in London, Council for the encouragement of music and the arts (C.E.M.A, now the Arts Council of Great Britain) Paintings of the French School from a Private Collection (H.J.P. Bomford). Lent by the "Bomford Collection" to a 1948 exhibition in Dublin; a label for the exhibition is on the back of the stretcher.
[5] Published in Eric Newton, "French Painters VII: Edouard Manet," Apollo, February 1953.
[6] Lent by d'Alayer to a 1957 exhibition in Paris. He was married to Marie-Louise Durand-Ruel, granddaughter of the dealer Paul Durand-Ruel.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1903

  • Exposition d'Oeuvres de l'Ecole Impressionniste, Bernheim-Jeune, Paris, April 1903, no. 27.

1928

  • Exposition d'Oeuvres de Manet au Profit des "Amis du Luxembourg", MM. Bernheim-Jeune, Paris, 1928, no. 10.

  • Ausstellung Edouard Manet, Galerie Matthiesen, Berlin, 1928, no. 34, repro.

1934

  • XIX Esposizione Biennale Internazionale d'Arte, Venice, 1934, no. 9.

1942

  • Nineteenth Century French Paintings, National Gallery, London, 1942, no. 1.

1944

  • Paintings of the French School from a Private Collection_ (H.J.P. Bomford), Council for the encouragement of music and the arts (C.E.M.A, now the Arts Council of Great Britain), London, 1944, no. 10, repro.

1948

  • Irish Exhibition of Living Art, National College of Art, Dublin, 1948, no. 52, repro.

1951

  • French Masters of the XIXth and XXth Centuries, Fifth Series. Marborough Fine Art Ltd, London, June-July 1951, no. 35, repro.

1957

  • Le Second Empire: de Winterhalter à Renoir, Musée Jacquemart-André, Paris, 1957, no. 201.

1966

  • French Paintings from the Collections of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mellon and Mrs. Mellon Bruce, National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1966, no. 39, repro.

2013

  • Intimate Impressionism from the National Gallery of Art, Museo dell'Ara Pacis Augustae, Rome (exhibition title in this venue: Impressionist Gems); California Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco; McNay Art Museum, San Antonio; Mitsubishi Ichigokan Museum, Tokyo, Seattle Art Museum, 2013-2016, pl. 43.

2016

  • Manet: Sehen [Manet: Painting the Gaze], Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg, 2016, no. 40, repro.

2021

  • Manet and Astruc: Friendship and Inspiration, Kunsthalle Bremen, Bremen, 2021 - 2022, no. 36, repro.

Bibliography

1902

  • Duret, Théodore. Histoire d'Edouard Manet et de son oeuvre.Paris, 1902:no. 198.

1910

  • Duret, Théodore. Manet and the French Impressionists. Translated by J.E. Crawford Flitch. London and Philadelphia, 1910: 240, no. 198.

1919

  • Duret, Théodore. Histoire de Edouard Manet et de son oeuvre. Paris, 1919: no. 198.

1924

  • Severini, Gino. Manet. Rome, 1924: repro. 31.

1926

  • Duret, Théodore. Manet. Paris, 1926:264, no. 198, repro. 24.

  • Moreau-Nélaton, Etienne. Manet, raconté par lui-même. 2 vols. Paris, 1926: repro. no. 204.

1931

  • Tabarant, Adolphe. Manet: histoire catalographique. Paris, 1931: no. 231.

1932

  • Jamot, Paul, and Georges Wildenstein. Manet. 2 vols. Paris, 1932: 2:152, no. 260.

1943

  • Borenius, Tancred. "Afterthoughts on the French Exhibition." The Burlington Magazine 82 (February 1943): 48-49, repro.

1945

  • Rothenstein, John and R.H. Wilenski. Manet. The Faber Gallery, London, 1945: no. 6, repro.

1947

  • Tabarant, Adolphe. Manet et ses oeuvres. Paris, 1947: 269-270, no. 237, repro.

1953

  • Newton, Eric. "French Painters VIII: Edouard Manet." Apollo (February 1953): repro. 51.

  • Wallis, Nevile. "Masters of French Painting III: Manet Pioneer of Impressionism." The Connoisseur 132 (September 1953): 43, repro.

1970

  • Orienti, Sandra and Denis Rouart. Edouard Manet. Paris, 1970:no. 203, repro.

1975

  • Rouart, Denis and Daniel Wildenstein. Manet: catalogue raisonné. 2 vols. Lausanne and Paris, 1975: I:no. 234, repro.

1977

  • Hanson, Anne Coffin. Manet and the Modern Tradition. New Haven and London, 1977:

1987

  • Rand, Harry. Manet's Contemplation at the Gare Saint-Lazare. Berkeley, 1987:40, n. 61.

1988

  • Rosenblum, Robert. The Dog in Art from Rococo to Post-Modernism. New York, 1988:52-56, repro.

1996

  • Kern, Steven et. al. A Passion for Renoir: Sterling and Francine Clark Collect 1916-1951. New York, 1996:70, repro.

Inscriptions

lower right: Manet; upper left: TAMA

Wikidata ID

Q20188803

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